General Assembly

Highlighting “one deeply troubling conclusion” from the advance report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices, its Chairman told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today that its several egregious findings this year might amount to a strategy to either force the Palestinian people off their land or so severely marginalize them as to establish and maintain a system of permanent suppression.

Despite the recent hurricane that had shut down the United Nations’ Headquarters for three consecutive days, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates noted the successful finalization of work on almost a dozen draft resolutions, as well as the thorough consideration of two topics within their working groups.

Full access to information and communications technology would allow developing countries to participate actively in the global economy and harness the benefits of globalization, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today moved to fill upcoming vacancies in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, and four other bodies that help it manage the United Nations vast human resources and keep its finances on track. The dozens of recommendations will be sent on to the General Assembly for its stamp of approval later during the sixty-seventh session.

Debate today in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) amplified a wide range of issues underpinning improvement in both the operational and doctrinal aspects of peacekeeping, including the need to address deficiencies in staff, funding and equipment, the value of further engaging regional and subregional organizations, and the multidimensional aspect of peacekeeping mandates that might now encompass human rights, civilian protection and peacebuilding components.

All human rights and freedoms were inter-dependent and indivisible, Member States told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it completed its debate on the promotion and protection of human rights.

Desertification affected one third of the earth’s surface and about 1.5 billion people globally, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told today as it continued its general discussion on sustainable development.

The General Assembly today elected 18 members of the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2013.

The rapidly growing number of refugees was complicating the task of finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today during the conclusion of its debate on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), even as delegates disagreed on how the refugee question should be resolved.

As new conflicts multiplied in 2011 - especially in Africa and the Middle East – the collective capacity to respond to people uprooted by violence and persecution was “being put to the test in unforeseen ways” amid increased demand for humanitarian relief and an uncertain operating environment, the United Nations top refugee official told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.